A burly man stepped onto the high platform. He loosened his limbs, lowered his stance, and slowly clenched his fists. Veins bulged across arms thicker than most men's thighs!
"Ha!"
With a thunderous shout, the man suddenly threw a punch!
"Thud!"
The dull impact echoed as his fist sank into the stone, burying just over half of it.
The man pulled back his fist and stumbled two steps away, looking dazed.
"How is this possible?"
A black-armored soldier beside him took out a measuring ruler. After measuring the depth of the fist mark, he announced flatly, "Two inches and four tenths. Failed. Next."
The burly man walked off the platform in a daze, still muttering that it was impossible.
A wave of incredulous discussion swept through the crowd. That man looked strong enough to have several hundred jin of strength. How had he left such a shallow fist mark?
Shi Lan watched it all without the slightest surprise. Though the man had been powerfully built and strong, he was still an ordinary person with no knowledge of martial arts. He couldn't focus his strength in one place. It was already impressive that he'd managed to bring out six or seven tenths of his power with that punch.
Judging by the man's build and the force of his punch, he must have struck with at least two hundred jin of power, the equivalent of a Body Tempering Realm martial artist at the second level. Yet he'd left a fist mark barely more than two inches deep.
By that estimate, anyone hoping to meet the Demon-Suppression Army's requirements would need to be at least at the fifth level of the Body Tempering Realm.
After the burly man stepped down, another sturdy man of roughly the same build climbed onto the platform. His punch was considerably weaker, leaving a mark just one inch and nine tenths deep.
That was clearly below the minimum requirement Nie Yangze had just set.
Before the man could protest, the two black-armored soldiers strode forward, forced him to the ground, and fetched a long plank from below the platform. They struck him ten times with it.
By the time they were done, the man's back was a bloody mess, and he couldn't move. A few companions carried him away.
That beating doused much of the fire the gold bricks had kindled in the crowd.
As people glanced around uncertainly, a lean man of about twenty-seven or twenty-eight approached the platform. He skipped the stairs and, with a single step, leaped straight onto the nearly one-zhang-high platform.
The ordinary people around him gasped in amazement. Even a few martial artists narrowed their eyes, their expressions turning serious.
The man walked up to the stone, bent into a horse stance, and stretched his muscles and bones. A string of sharp cracks rang through his body like thunder!
"Haah!"
He let out a long cry and tightened his five fingers. His fist flashed, followed by a sharp whistle as it tore through the air!
"Pff!"
The crowd saw a blur, and the lean man's forearm had sunk deep into the stone.
He withdrew his arm and exhaled. A wisp of murky gray air, visible to the naked eye, streamed from his mouth and traveled nearly a foot before slowly dissipating.
"Seven inches and five tenths. Passed," the black-armored soldier announced, gesturing for him to register at the wooden table.
"Name?"
"Yan Shan."
After Yan Shan, more than a dozen martial artists took the platform, but only a handful passed. Other than Yan Shan, the deepest fist mark left by any of those who passed was just six inches and two tenths.
Several ordinary people tried their luck, hoping to slip through the test. Every one of them ended up taking a beating.
Yan Shan and the other martial artists who had passed stood with their arms folded at the entrance to the city lord's residence, watching the platform from afar. Each time someone went up to be tested, they quietly discussed what they saw and shared their opinions.
When the timing seemed right, Shi Lan squeezed through the crowd and climbed the steps onto the platform.
As soon as she appeared, the martial artists began offering their assessments.
"Her steps are erratic, her feet land without force, and she can't get a firm grip on the ground. Clearly an ordinary person."
"Her muscles are limp, her movements careless. She's another one hoping to get lucky."
"Wealth moves the heart. It's only natural."
Most of the martial artists took one look, shook their heads, and lost interest.
Yan Shan quietly studied Shi Lan. Suddenly, his brows furrowed, as if he'd noticed something. His expression grew serious.
Shi Lan stopped in front of the stone and roughly gauged its strength. She raised her right arm, clenched her fist, and threw a plain straight punch at the stone.
She held back three tenths of her strength with that punch. The instant her fist touched the stone, it felt as though it had sunk into a swamp, and the force behind it began to fade rapidly.
The force in her punch soon dissipated completely. Shi Lan looked at her forearm, which had sunk halfway into the stone, and felt unsure whether she'd met the five-inch requirement.
After a brief moment's thought, she added two tenths more strength. Her forearm, which had already stopped, sank another stretch into the stone.
The black-armored soldier who had been about to measure the depth of the fist mark stared at Shi Lan in surprise.
Shi Lan withdrew her arm and stepped back twice.
The black-armored soldier stepped forward, checked the depth of the fist mark, and announced, "Seven inches and nine tenths. Passed."
The martial artists below looked at one another, all feeling a little awkward.
Yan Shan's expression was grave. He'd noticed what Shi Lan had just done. The force of her punch had already run its course, and pushing her arm farther in required a completely different amount of strength than throwing a punch deep enough to leave such a mark. It was easy to imagine just how much power she'd put behind that punch.
"Name?"
"Shi Lan."
"Where do you live?"
After recording the basic information, the black-armored soldier pointed to the entrance of the city lord's residence. "Wait over there. City Lord Nie will speak with you shortly, and you'll receive your reward then."
Shi Lan walked over as instructed and stopped at the entrance. She found it strange that, as soon as she arrived, the group of martial artists moved several steps away, keeping their distance from her.
Before long, fewer and fewer people took the platform to be tested. In the end, not a single person remained. Only twenty-six people had passed the test, Shi Lan among them.
Of the twenty-six, the deepest fist mark belonged to a black-robed man in his forties with a powerful aura. His mark was nine inches and seven tenths deep, leaving everyone else far behind.
Shi Lan came second, followed by Yan Shan. None of the other martial artists had left a mark deeper than seven inches.
After confirming that no one else intended to take the platform, several black-armored soldiers began packing up the things on it.
One of the soldiers went over to the martial artists. "Follow me." Then he turned and pushed open the gates to the city lord's residence.
The martial artists filed inside, following the soldier into the city lord's residence.
Shi Lan looked around. The courtyard walls were about as high as those at Shi Mansion, and the layout and landscaping were much the same.
The group followed the black-armored soldier along the way, soon arriving at a great hall.
The hall doors stood open. Once inside, they saw Nie Yangze seated on the high seat at the head of the hall.
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